Koku Anyidoho In Trouble

Director of Communications at the Presidency, Koku Anyidoho, has apparently bitten more than he can chew by describing the Minority Members of Parliament as an irresponsible lot who are bellicose, whimsical and capricious. Daily Guide has reports that the Minority is lacing its boots to drag Mr. Anyidoho before the Privileges Committee of Parliament for him to explain the logic of the insulting adjectives, and the Minority Chief Whip, Fred Opare Ansah, is getting ready to slap him with charges of defamation of character. Jones Kugblenu, Director of Public Affairs at Parliament has also told Daily Guide that the Minority may have to draw the Speaker�s attention to the issue and produce evidence that Mr. Anyidoho had really insulted them. Mr. Anyidoho used the abusive expressions and some more in his response to suggestions by Mr. Opare Ansah that impeachment proceedings could be initiated against President Atta Mills in line with article 69 (1) of the 1992 Constitution if it is established that indeed he only rejected two �brown envelopes� meant to corrupt him, but failed to report the people who attempted to bribe him to the police for prosecution. He also launched a vitriolic personal attack on the Minority Leader, Osei-Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, and threatened Shamima Muslim, a broadcast journalist at Citi FM, when she cautioned him to mind his language. Though Mr. Anyidoho insisted he was speaking in his capacity as the Director of Communications at the Presidency, it is not certain yet whether his language was the official response from the Office of the President. Sounding rather angry, Anyidoho charged: �Let Opare Ansah understand, and I will call him honourable because the people of Suhum voted for him, so I will respect the people of Suhum. I may not respect Opare Ansah and his views but I will respect the electorate who voted for him to become MP, so I would call him honourable. �And tell him that I speak categorically that irresponsible people like him (Hon. Opare Ansah) will not lead the President down an irresponsible path. "The fact that people like Opare Ansah have gone and sat down and are making this irresponsible statement does not mean that President Mills, having gotten the mandate of 23 to 24 million Ghanaians to build a better Ghana, should come and respond to this level of irresponsibility. �And I�m saying that with people like Osei Kyei Mensah and Opare Ansah in Parliament, we have a question to answer and President Mills will hear but will not pay attention to the bellicose, whimsical and capricious irresponsibility of Opare Ansah and his lot. �And we are telling Opare Ansah and co. that they better get ready, this their irresponsibility, their bellicosity is nonsense and I use the word nonsense again�. Jones Kugblenu told Daily Guide last night that he had personally not heard that statement being attributed to Mr. Anyidoho, but some words can be considered as unparliamentarily. When Mr. Kugblenu was asked if the Minority really had any bases to drag Anyidoho before the Privileges Committee of Parliament, he said if the Minority believes they have been insulted and they want the House to invite the person who insulted them, one of their MPs may have to draw the Speaker�s attention to the issue and produce evidence to back the claim. Mr. Kugblenu said the other way to handle the issue is for any person to write a petition to Parliament and back it with evidence that the Minority had been dragged into disrepute. Daily Guide gathered at press time that the Minority Chief Whip had demanded for an apology from Mr. Anyidoho, but no such apology had been rendered.